Still Distracted by New Fleeces

I am only about and inch or so from joining the sleeves and working the saddle shoulders- the part I’ve been so looking forward to! But I haven’t been getting that much knitting time in, and I think I’ve going to have to spin up another three or so skeins to finish this baby off- so it’s back to the beginning with another batch of white Romney.

And then there are the new fleeces that are just begging to be spun.

So, I’ve been a bit distracted.

Mariah, Ulla and Gigi are all fabulous- and in different ways. The variety of color and texture in wool never ceases to amaze me. Especially in Shetlands. I think that is what I’ve going to look for in a spinning flock – variety in fleece characteristics.

I was working with Ulla this week. She’s actually the first one I picked out while I was there. There’s only so much you can tell about a fleece when you’re poking around at it in a plastic bag- but I knew right off that I wanted this girl. Her fleece is a really interesting range of colors- cinnamon to light brown sugar to taupe. I haven’t seen much of that around here. I would have taken it on color alone- but it also seemed to be nice and dense, with a pretty good staple length (comb-able, yea!) and a nice crimp. Would make a yarn with good body and bounce.

Hey, I have two wonderful little fiber boys here, and someone willing to deliver them on Sunday, August 24! She’s from Monroe, WA, and will be driving home that day from down here in Oregon. Let me know if you’d like photos of the two handsome Shetland lads – one with chocolate fleece and one with steely grey fleece, both very friendly.